Capstone Mining Record 2014 First Quarter Production Results

First quarter production of 27,600 tonnes of copper

VANCOUVER, April 10, 2014 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced operating results for the three months ending March 31, 2014 of its three operating mines: Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 27,600 tonnes of copper (in concentrates and cathode), with additional by-products of zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.

Q1 2014 Production (tonnes)

Totals may not add due to rounding. (1) Total production includes copper in concentrate and cathode production.

"All three of our mines performed very well this quarter, with Pinto Valley meeting our expectations and Cozamin and Minto also delivering as planned," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Our primary focus remains on stabilizing operations and reducing costs at Pinto Valley. We completed the transfer of all the enterprise operating systems to Capstone in the first quarter and are continuing with a number of initiatives designed to enhance the stability and predictability of production at Pinto Valley."

Operational Highlights

• Pinto Valley production finished the first quarter essentially on plan, with grade and recoveries offsetting a minor shortfall in throughput. A number of initiatives are underway related to production stability, with March showing an improvement over the first two months of the quarter.
• Cozamin is also on plan, with average throughput for February and March of over 3,800 tonnes per day making up for an unplanned transformer outage that affected production in January. The higher throughput over the course of the quarter offset minor shortfalls in grade and recovery.
• Minto also exited Q1 on plan, with strong throughput, mill availability and recoveries compensating for slightly lower grades. The mill achieved a monthly throughput production record in March of 4,222 tonnes per day.
• Payable copper shipped for the quarter from all three mines was 26,600 tonnes.

Q1 2014 Operating Details

Production Outlook

Capstone's 2014 guidance for 102,000 tonnes ±5% of copper in concentrates, at a C1 cash cost⁽¹⁾ of US$1.90 to US$2.00 per pound of payable copper, net of by-product credits and selling costs, remains unchanged.

Financial Results Timing

Capstone will report Q1 2014 financial results on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 after market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time).

The conference call replay will be available until May 22, 2014. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 24 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/s/conference-calls.asp.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. We are focused on copper, with three producing mines; the Pinto Valley copper-molybdenum mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver-zinc-lead mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc-gold-silver project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile and Mexico. Using our cash flow and strong balance sheet as a platform, Capstone's strategy is to continue to grow with mineral resource and reserve expansions and exploration, and through acquisitions in politically stable, mining-friendly regions. We will pace our growth with our financial capacity, ensuring we retain, as a priority, sufficient financial flexibility to meet the requirements of our existing operations and our committed development projects, while maintaining an adequate cushion to deal with market volatility and operating risks inherent in the mining industry. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone Mining Corp. (the "Company") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation.

Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "scheduled", "guidance", "plan", "planned", "estimated", "projections", "projected" and "expected". By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of mineral resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents; dependence on key personnel; labour pool constraints; labour disputes; availability of infrastructure required for the development of mining projects; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals; changes in general economic conditions; increased operating and capital costs; operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation; impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations; increasing energy prices; our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements.

National Instrument 43-101 Compliance

The technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Brad Skeeles, P. Eng., Vice President of North American Operations, and Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, both Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

Alternative Performance Measures

The item marked with (1) "C1 Cash Cost per Pound of Payable Copper Produced" is an Alternative Performance Measure. This performance measure is included because this statistic is a key performance measure that management uses to monitor performance. Management uses this statistic to assess how the Company is performing to plan and to assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of mining operations. This performance measure does not have a meaning within IFRS and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar data presented by other mining companies. This performance measure should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with IFRS. 

SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.

Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications
604-637-8157
cburnett@capstonemining.com